Dawn of Darkness
by Nilion Unlustig
Summary: The story of a relationship that is discovered and used against the people involved.. until one of them shatters beneath the weight of it all. Slade, on his end, seems to enjoy meddling with the lives of these already nearly broken beings. The Titans do as they can for their new-found friend.. but can they succeed? Will they?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Well! Guys! Joy of all joys; I've hit a brick wall with my other stories.. and I was doodling with a concept I've done in RP with some of my friends for the past three years now.. I really liked the characters I played, two in particular that will be used for this story. This story doesn't really have much in the way of a direction right now, so it'll just be rubble until I think of something specific for it. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that's made by DC comics, though I do own anything that I create, such as my two characters for this story.

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><p>If wishes were feathers, birds would be extinct.<p>

Such an easy expression to chuckle over. A good laugh because it is not true and could never be true. Perhaps in a land of dreams it might be possible. But _here_? Unlikely. Yes, people were gifted with powers, but wishes? They were just a figment of one's imagination.

Heroism was his life's work, ever since the death of his parents. Yes, you could say it was a part of him. Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy, had taken him in as his ward, but nothing more. The adoption was never finalized. Did this mean he was not fully wanted? He never got to ask that. They parted under somewhat bad terms (this was basically to say that Bruce disapproved of his Robin persona and wanted him to rid himself of it, to which he denied this) and he had then been out on his own for a year. Then he met his future friends and thus became the leader of a group of diverse teenagers. The Teen Titans.

Robin was content saving the innocent and bringing down villains. It made him feel good and put a smile on his face. There was one anomaly that cast his mood into despair, his happiness into anger and his life into pure chaos. This being made him obsessed, determined, crazed, a loner and hurt not only him but his entire team.

**_Slade_**.

The bane of his existence.

To each hero came an arch-nemesis. Like with Batman the Joker was there. For Superman Lex Luther.. and so on. Robin's? It was Slade, the masked lurker.

Slade was his counter, the one person he feared, the villain he wanted in bars the most and the person he didn't want to become.

Slade was his _inner demon_.

Robin couldn't suppress the shiver he felt race down his spine. Slade was dead though and he had finally recovered from the dust that the villain left for him. Things were slowly looking up, even though Beast Boy had become a bit withdrawn after Terra got frozen in lava. They comforted him as much as they could.

Then there was Red X, his attempt to find out what Slade was planning. It was his worst mistake. He recalled sharply his apprenticeship with Slade, how the man had infected his team with probes to force the hero to obey him, but only when Slade actually pressed the button did Robin even act truly. He held back so much. He didn't want to hurt his team.

Robin closed his eyes, masked protection hiding the true gemstones beneath.

**"Robin..."** A soft voice drew him out of his memories, colliding with the present with eyes snapping open. He turned to look at Starfire, her face worried as he arched a brow. **"Cyborg has detected a disturbance in the city. We must _go_."**

He hadn't felt his communicator vibrate and he was in the installed soundproof room for training. He nodded, moving to stand and dusting off his pants. **"Let's hurry."** He ordered, grabbing his cape and utility belt. They ran to meet up with the others and soon the five Titans departed for the city.. where the scene before them would startle them.


	2. Chapter 2

**"_Roar_!"** The sound crowed in the air like a dying bird call, hands shifting up to cover the ears.

**"Ow! Rude!"** An irritated voice grumbled before thrusting an arm out at the source; a large concrete monster whose hands were held up as he prepared to strike. Ice shot from the fingertips and the monster became a popsicle within second. The female, the one who produced the ice, gave a victorious smirk. **"I _dare_ you to come out of-"** She was cut short as the ice popped and began to web before utterly shattering. **"-that..."** She dropped her hand and turned to run, her fifteen year old body darting to safety.

She was in the old mining area of Jump City, carts here and there with metal stacked around. **"Roar!"** The sky above crackled with a sudden stroke of thunder, rain clouds ready to spill their content.

**"Gotta think of _something_!"** The cool voice hissed beneath her breath as she ran toward several carts.

Pounding footsteps followed her and before she realized what was happening something connected with her side and she was thrown onto her back. She blinked, groaning, rubbing at her face. **"Owww.."** She froze in awareness as the stone monster stood above her, arms lifted to finish her off. Orange eyes widened.

**"Titans, _go_!"** A male voice yelled and suddenly the monster howled in pain as a black-covered cart struck it's side, green bolts hitting it's back.

A giant bird.. that was oddly and strangely green, flew above before diving with what appeared to be a.. black metal man. A blue beam shot from the cybernetic man's arm, hitting the beast in it's chest.

Instantly a young male with spiky black hair was chucking disks at the creature, which exploded and the creature toppled onto it's back, out.

She remained where she lay, as still as a statue. The five people came to her (yes, people, even the bird.. who was now a green kid). They hovered around her as the caped boy offered her a hand.

**"You alright?"** The masked teen with the R on his chest asked. She accepted the hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

She slowly nodded, cautious, dusting herself off once he released her hand. She stood with stability, dragging fingertips down through long black strands of hair.

**"Yeah.. just a little spooked. What _was_ that thing?"**

**"It's name is Cinderblock."** The purple-clad girl answered, a deadpan face greeting her observation.

**"Makes sense."** The girl retorted as she scanned the group now before her. A short green colored boy, a half robot guy, an.. orange skinned female with bright emerald eyes, the purple hooded girl that looked kind of gothic and then there was the traffic-light kid. Quite _literally_! His outfit was yellow, red and green like the lights for driving.

**"You look like you're not from around here.. are you?"** The green one asked.

The goth rolled her eyes, looking to the boy. **"Beast Boy she shot ICE out of her _hand_. She's super-powered, she's obviously not from here."**

She glanced down at her own clothes, frowning at the state her attire was in. Her five foot six, athletically curvy frame was filthy! What pale skin was visible was flecked with mud while the brown goo was splattered onto her colored clothes.

She was wearing a black hoody with orange lining the hood along with two stripes on both arms between the shoulder and elbow area. Her pockets were lined orange, as was the zipper. Underneath she wore a casual white tank top. Her boots trailed up to her knees, flexible and black with an orange section on the inside of the outer appearance and a small section by her heels. The tips of her boots were white, which matched her pants. In question, the pants had black strips above the knee, one, with orange clips on the front-side and a small white pouch on the left leg. Her pants pockets were trimmed black with little orange tags dangling down as accessories. She wore white-undersided gloves with orange adorning the top. The wrist part of the gloves were black. There was a grey-ish cross stitched onto the right side of her jacket. A strange necklace rested along her neck.

Her frown deepened. She'd have to get herself cleaned!

She glared back up at the teenagers, crossing her arms against her chest. **"Who are you supposed to be?"**

**"We're the Teen Titans."** The spiky haired kid said. He gestured to each member as he said their name. **"This is Raven-"** The goth blinked. **"-Cyborg-"** The mechanical man grinned and gave a thumbs up. **"-Beast Boy-"** The boy shifted into a cat and began to purr. He was a _shapeshifter_! **"-Starfire-"** The alien-looking chick waved with a giggle. **"-and I'm Robin, their leader."**

She felt herself bristle. **"Heroes, right?"** She asked with an instantly disinterested air to her. **"I've heard of you guys, but you are stranger than I imagined."** She suddenly smiled and held out a hand to Robin. **"They call me Night Walker. It's my pleasure to meet you all."** He shook her hand with a mirrored smile.

**"Likewise."** Robin let go and rubbed his chin.

**"What are you doing in Jump City?"** Beast Boy perked up, receiving an elbow to the ribs from Raven.

**"I'm a.. traveler."** She winced, trying to cover it by coughing. **"I was heading toward the city when this thing came out of nowhere and attacked me."** She ran a hand up and down her left cheek, sighing. **"Didn't expect to have to fight."**

**"So you use ice?"** Robin questioned, studying her intensely.

She nodded. **"It's one of my powers. I can.. do a lot."**

**"You should like.. totally join us!-"** Beast Boy paused, visibly cringing. He redirected his gaze to the ground, biting his lip.

**"Be a _hero_?"** She never considered it. She was always running from her past.. she didn't really have time to help others or fight villains. **"Urm.."** She started, but Raven cut her off.

**"We don't know her, Beast Boy."** She said it kind of harshly, but she didn't take offense. It was the truth.

**"Yeah, I realized that."** He murmured.

Robin opened his mouth to say something but the floating Starfire interrupted unknowingly. **"Perhaps we can do the get to knowing of her?"** She said it like a statement, but it held a question, like she was asking the others.

Cyborg shrugged. **"She seems ok."**

Raven rubbed her temple, but remained quiet.

**"We can give her a chance."** Robin said, folding his arms.

**"Most wonderful!"** The strange female cheered as she took the girl's hands in hers, spinning her around. **"We shall partake in the Earth customs of the sleep overs, the doing of hair, the painting of nails and-"**

**"You're all getting ahead of yourselves."** Raven interjected, glaring at them. **"Must we make the same mistake _twice_?"**

Beast Boy hung his head at her bitter words.

**"One chance cannot hurt as much as the two we gave Terra."** The sad voice of Starfire answered, eyes pleading.

**"If she hurts us it's all on you."** Raven said, peering at her team members before walking away.

**"Do not mind our friend. She is.. un-accepting of new friends at first."** Starfire sighed, landing to stand beside Robin.

**"Why..?"** Night Walker wondered.

**"Terra was a girl we met with the ability to move solid rock. She betrayed us."** Beast Boy looked up, eyes seemingly cold as he spat the words.

**"Ahh.. I'm sorry."** She whispered. She knew the feeling.. and didn't want to do it toward them. They seemed like nice people, friendly..

**"_They won't accept you._"**

She cringed.

**"_They won't welcome you with open arms once they learn about your past._"**

Robin's lips were moving but she couldn't hear what he was saying.

The voice in her head continued. **"_You think this could be your home? You think you can have friends? How cute, admirable even. Delusional kid..._"**

She didn't respond, her eyes dazed as Robin hovered a hand before her face after pausing when realizing she wasn't listening.

**"_They'll reject you, toss you aside like trash. You might even be feared because of me.. because of what happened and what we are capable of._"**

She felt her blood chill.

**"_You will never have a home, never have people to hug away your worries and problems.. and you'll never be welcome truly. Get used to it._"** It trailed off.

She blinked when Robin's voice echoed in the air before correcting itself. **"-ok? _Hello_?"**

She gave a soft smile, causing the Titans to tilt their heads. **"Sorry, I got lost in thought. You were saying?"**

**"Do you have a place to stay?"** Robin.

She wondered about that. She hadn't thought about where she'd stay next, had just been waiting until she felt tired to actually find a place. She shook her head while pursing her lips. **"Not yet."**

**"You can stay with us until then."** Cyborg offered, but her head began to rapidly shake.

**"I c-can't accept this."** She stuttered, a distraught look on her face like she'd just been told she had a week to live.

Cyborg grinned and hooked an arm through hers. **"Deal with it."** He dragged her along while she whined, Starfire's giggling and Robin's chuckle following her.

They took her to a large T-shaped tower on an island and she marveled at everything she saw.


End file.
